Where Butterflies Never Die
by littlekitsune1
Summary: Rated for language and survivor's situations. Following Ellie's daunting task of trying to keep Joel alive through the fall and winter months.
1. The First Nights

A/N: Written on request by Possk. Happy early birthday!

I know, I know. Another one of these 'filling in the winter gap' fics. But even so, I hope to bring some new stuff to the table that makes it worth your time.

Once again, big thanks to Rascal for her wonderful beta job!

…

Despite the snow that fell in languid flakes around them, Ellie was warm. The tepid life essence that oozed out of Joel's wound was soaking her front from where she had been clinging to his back; perspiring into her skin like a hot syrup, and permeating her clothes with the acrid copper smell.

The smell of death.

Despite the thick film it caused in her throat, she swallowed and begged the fallen man to lead her.

"You gotta tell me what to do!"

Her only response was a weak puff of icy tendrils escaping his mouth, and she grew increasingly frantic. This couldn't be the same man that had managed to keep the both of them alive all this time – no, this frail man, looking so weak with age couldn't be Joel.

"C'mon!" she shook him, her heart pounding so fast that she was sure it would break her ribcage. "You gotta get up!"

Another breath; slower and weaker than the last.

"Joel?!"

She searched the weathered face for signs of waking, but got no response, and her attempts to lift him were failing. She felt the panic try and take over, but stubbornly pushed it aside. Was she really so quick to fall apart without his guidance? No, this wasn't her, any more than that was her invincible Joel lying there in a pool of his own blood.

Taking a deep breath, the rushing sound in her ears finally stopped, leaving her head aching and the world eerily quiet as she drew on her reserves of survivor's adrenalin.

Grabbing Callus's reins, she pulled the horse over to her fallen guardian. He seemed to understand on some level, and did not move or shy away when she bent back to her task of trying to force Joel's upper body up by the shoulders. Ellie hooked her hands under his armpits and gave a colossal heave.

The next few minutes felt like a dream, as the girl maneuvered Joel slowly upright. She slipped; he slid; but in the end she had a still-breathing man awkwardly slumped on his belly over the horse's saddle. Ellie gave herself only a few seconds to catch her breath before reaching for the reins again.

"C'mon, boy," she ushered, pulling the horse forward on foot and off into the unknown wilderness – the only place she could be sure they wouldn't be followed.

…

It was a naked feeling, being out in the open with nothing but trees and snow for cover. Ellie and Callus both started at every 'thud' from the masses of snow that slid off their tree perches, but she still coaxed the animal forward, knowing every jarring bump could be Joel's death sentence.

Two hours passed, and nothing. It was getting dark, and the temperature was dropping, fast. Ellie had hoped beyond hope that they'd run into some sort of cabin – a shed… Anything so that Joel and she wouldn't have to suffer the elements and be exposed for an entire night. But it seemed luck was not on their side.

Callus halted when she did, and Ellie sighed before looking around. The area was fairly sheltered by trees, and as dry as she was likely to get. She moved to Joel's side, and checked his breathing.

It was there – faint but definite. Heaving a sigh of relief, the girl left him with Callus's warmth and set to work.

Ellie didn't know how she did it, but faster than she'd have thought possible, she had the little area cleared of dampness. She foraged any dry twigs and made them into a tiny fire. It wasn't glamorous, or even ideal, but it would have to do.

Moving Joel off Callus and to the fire was painful and messy, and she was almost crying from exhaustion and misery when it was over. His grunts and short breaths told her he was awake, but too weak to do much of anything.

She knew the cold itself was to thank for Joel lasting as long as he had, but also knew it would do him in just as easily. There were medical supplies in his backpack, but she hardly knew what she was doing. She looked down at Joel to see his eyes squinted shut against the pain, and his body shivering. Those were good signs, right?

The backpack meant Joel was at a painful angle, and so she took it off him. She would need it, anyway.

"Okay, big guy… I'm gonna have to take a look," she said, apology lacing her tone as she carefully peeled away the sticky jacket and shirt until they lay completely aside. Quickly, she pulled out some of the rare clothing they'd managed to find, bundling it beneath him so that his bare torso wouldn't be exposed to the frostbitten grass and dirt.

In all her years of reading, Ellie knew her way around a description – but the sight blemishing his skin was too grisly even for her tastes. She tried not to think about it, or the smell, as she set to work dousing one of Joel's few rags with the even scarcer alcohol.

"This is gonna hurt," she warned the half-conscious man, "Sorry…"

What little was in her stomach lurched and almost emptied when she pressed down. Joel's agonized grunt and the smell of blood and liquor all mixed together and made her sick.

Ellie wasn't sure how long she sat there, letting the liquid seep into his wound, even as her own hands steadily darkened with his blood. The longer she pressed, the more sounds he made, and the more his eyes fluttered beneath his eyelids.

At last his eyes opened, and Ellie gasped in relief.

"Joel."

"What the hell are you tryin' to kill me with?" he coughed out, lifting his head to weakly look down at his bare midsection.

"Yeah well," she huffed at his comment, his voice bringing a wave of emotion over her, "You're lucky to be alive, so just bear with me."

Her gaze turned solemn. "I'm going to have to stitch up the wound."

He closed his eyes again and was quiet, and for a moment she was afraid he'd slipped back into unconsciousness, before he answered, "I'll do it. We don't have any thread, so you're gonna have to-"

"No!" she interrupted wildly, "I can do this, Joel, just let me help!"

He was silent for a while, but eventually logic seemed to win out in his brain and he sucked in a deep breath through his nose.

"All right… Now you're gonna wanna make that thread," he grunted out painfully. "Is the horse still here?"

Ellie didn't dare ask why he couldn't see the animal standing only a few feet away.

"Yeah, Joel. He's here."

"Okay, now… Pluck a few hairs from his tail."

"What?"

"Just do it," he hissed through clenched teeth.

She obeyed, and had to admit Callus was a real trooper as she yanked and pulled until the thick hairs came loose. His head jerked up when she succeeded, and she apologized by patting his flank briefly on her way back to Joel.

But the man was silent again. She shook his shoulder, and he jolted awake, looking like he didn't remember where they were.

"Joel?"

He coughed twice before drawing in several shaky breaths and answering, "Right. What were you doin', again?"

Her heart sank at the feeble response, but she didn't let it show on her face. "The horse hair. We're sewing up your wound."

Joel coughed again and nodded, "There's a first-aid needle in my backpack. Tie a hair to it and I'll talk you through the rest."

The needle was straight, and awkward to handle, but through the shaking of her hands, Ellie managed to tie the makeshift thread through the needle hole with enough to spare for the actual sewing.

"Now, when you tie it, it's gonna go around your finger twice – then you pull down and tighten it. Then you keep doing that, forwards once, then backwards again. Forwards and backwards, forwards and backwards. About three or four times."

She nodded nervously at his explanation.

"Then you cut it, and start again, understand?"

"I understand."

Joel lifted a weak hand and pointed to his skin, about half a centimeter from the gaping edge of the wound. It still hurt Ellie to look at.

"Right here. You're gonna wanna start about this far, each time."

"I got it."

As Ellie moved forward to start, Joel's hand gripping her wrist stopped her, and she looked up to find his gaze piercing.

"Now Ellie…" he warned, "We don't have the proper tools here, so it's gonna hurt like hell and bleed all over the place. But you don't stop until that wound is closed, you hear me?"

She nodded again, dutifully but obviously scared. "I hear you."

He let go of her hand. "Good. Now get me one of them rags to bite down on."

The cry he let out when she dug the needle into his skin was muffled by the fabric, but agonizing to listen to, and her face contorted as she quickly set to work on tying it off like he'd instructed her. She could only hope she was doing it right, as the man had his eyes pinched shut against the pain.

By the third needle entering, Joel had passed out and Ellie was on her own.

She wiped the sweat from her brow as she finished the exit wound, and patted at the blood with the liquor soaked rag until it stopped flowing from between the stitches.

'_Halfway there…' _she thought grimly.

The entrance hole was easier, despite having to work with Joel rolled over onto his side. She didn't want to risk getting dirt into the finished stitches by tumbling him all the way over.

Joel was shivering violently by the time she was through, and her own hands were numb. Moving over to the faithfully stationary Callus, Ellie loosened the buckle holding his saddle in place before sliding it off until all that was left was the saddle blanket beneath it.

"Sorry Callus, I have to borrow this."

She laid the wool over Joel's exposed upper body, the fabric still rich with body heat, and rubbed until Joel's powerful shudders died down. Relieved, she watched the rise and fall of his chest for a few moments, before everything finally slowed down in her mind, and she registered the chill in her own body. She looked down at where her own bloody clothes still stuck to her small frame.

Reaching for her own backpack, Ellie pulled out another shirt and jacket for herself, before using Callus as a makeshift curtain to change. When she approached Joel again – newly clothed – he had fallen back into a fitful sleep.

Pulling her backpack up, she turned it into a crude pillow for herself as she curled up beside Joel. She pressed as close as comfortably possible, knowing she had to get some body heat into him for the color to start coming back in his cheeks. The rapidly vanishing sun was making them look even paler.

The hours ticked by and the snow piled up outside their little shelter of trees. The sun finally disappeared from Ellie's sight, and she dozed lightly.

In and out her consciousness swam; dimly hearing the crackle of the snow and birds singing when she would pull out of her restless sleep. Her body tried to keep her relaxed despite her brain surging with constant anxiety over Joel, and the conflict made her repeat several instances of napping, to barely registering that she was trying to wake up. She never gained restful sleep, and as she awoke she felt as though she had barely even closed her eyes to placate her drowsiness.

Pushing further into wakefulness, her eyes focused on the moon hovering in the sky. She had awoken to the rapid pounding of her heart and an aching burn of adrenalin firing through her. Her body had acted instinctively while she was half-conscious and she tried focusing on what had frightened her. Then she remembered – a clicking noise. Immediately she reached for the pistol in her pack, her grogginess instantly forgotten.

_Kk-kk-kk-kkr._

It was very faint. Ellie froze in place, pistol clutched so tightly her fingers were turning white. The noise echoed from every direction, and Ellie instinctively looked at Joel for reassurance, but he was still unconscious. Her panic rose as the sounds continued – never seeming too close or too far away.

_Kkkkk-kkkkk._

Had infected found them? Or was it just some bird? Holding still for fear of making any sound, Ellie's fingers clenched tighter around the gun's hilt in nervous spasms. Should she douse the fire? The risk of freezing from the harsh weather made her hesitate.

Rows upon rows of dead trees, skeletal and bleached, clawing at the sky and bathed in moonlight as the silence around them became overwhelming. Ellie could swear it was weighing her down, suffocating her, as she held her breath and continued to listen.

More clicking. Ellie suppressed a noise and glanced to Joel again. The fire was weak, but it still crackled and licked at the wood, shifting the shadows around them like thousands of dancing demons. Ellie's eyes constantly flitted around as each one seemed like a figure scurrying closer before leaping out of sight.

The trees bore down on her with the blanket of utter, complete, deafening silence.

_Kkkr-kkkkkr._

Callus shifted and snorted to her left, but luckily did not bray if he was sensing something. Another shadow leapt at her, and she summoned enough courage to click back the hammer of her gun. Her shaky breaths seemed much too loud to her own ears.

It seemed like hours passed, with her just sitting there, waiting for something to materialize out of the darkness that she could be sure was real. Ellie shifted and started when her hand brushed against something stiff and cold. She looked down.

It was a butterfly; pathetic and frozen on the ground. It was being torn apart by ants. The scene left an uncomfortable feeling in her gut, and she yanked her hand away.

Lethargy finally took over when dawn approached and the noises subsided. Ellie lay back down, keeping the pistol closer so she could grab it if awoken. Her nerves still trembling through her body, her eyes felt as heavy as stones and her urge to sleep came back with a vengeance.

Ellie wasn't sure when she drifted off, and she wasn't sure for how long. All she knew was that when she next opened her eyes, her vision was full of Joel.

She didn't have the energy to feel disappointed with herself as she checked his breathing again. Ellie pushed herself closer to the warmth of Joel's blanket, lying awake with her hand resting gently against his chest.

Unconscious or not, he made her feel safer. And Callus was here to warn her of any danger. Slowly, Ellie felt the panic lower and exhaustion catch up with her. Her resistance to sleep's tempting pull was feeble this time, as the sun started to peek over the horizon.

…

Joel looked positively ashen when she awoke that morning. His complexion was pasty and he was shuddering violently despite the warmth around him. Feeling his forehead, Ellie panicked when his skin nearly burned her hand. Shooting up, she pried open his bag and grabbed for the water canteen inside it.

Bringing the cool liquid to his lips, she got a bit down his throat, but hesitated in rubbing any on his face for fear of chilling him. He needed to eat something. Digging further into the backpack, her hand came upon the few cans of food they'd managed to scrounge up in the last town they were in.

Figuring rice would be the easiest to get into him, Ellie set up the gas cooker and piled in some clean snow with the grains to make a mushy gruel. Propping his head up on her lap, she pushed the spoon past his chapped lips, feeling a bolt of elation when they closed weakly around the silverware.

When he was finished eating, she coaxed more water into him, and then laid him back down to sleep once she was confident his fever had dropped a little.

Her eyes held bags under them, but she hadn't given up her hope of finding shelter. Now that she'd finished nursing Joel, Ellie's strength felt far away. Still, though her arms shook when she re-dressed and hefted him up by his armpits again, she managed to get him up and onto Callus quicker than the previous day.

The day was quiet save for the crumpling of snow beneath their feet, the calling of birds, and the occasional whistling of a cold wind. Ellie led Callus through the white powder blanketing the area with an urgency borne from sleepless anxiety. The cold had her near gasping for breath, and sparkling cobwebs of mist wafted from her panting mouth.

Five hours they walked, not stopping except for the occasional drink, or for Ellie or Callus to relieve themselves. The horse clearly wanted to graze, but kept going whenever she coaxed, much to Ellie's relief.

Finally, she saw a speck on the horizon. Then four. Then, as they neared, a whole plot of houses came into view.

Ellie huffed a half-laugh of exuberance. She almost forgot herself; almost raced towards their sanctuary at full speed like there wasn't a care in the world now that she'd found it. She held herself back at the last minute. Instead she led Callus to a nearby tree and looped his reins around a branch, before pulling out her pistol and heading down the small incline as quietly as possible.

Ellie didn't dare open the rather rickety-looking door of the first house. It was slightly ajar, and she clutched the gun tighter.

'_Everything's cool…' _she reassured herself.

Creeping around the side, she sat in the snow for a few seconds to calm her noisy breath and summon her courage. Keeping low, she peered through the cracked window into the dimly lit interior of the first floor.

Two. There were two Clickers inside the house – huddled near each other for warmth.

With a muted noise, Ellie backed away from the glass, barely remembering to do it slowly if not for months of it becoming second nature, with Joel.

As quietly as possible, she moved away from the window, praying that her feet wouldn't crunch too loudly in the snow. Her breathing had become ragged, and she couldn't reel it in. Knowing that they would soon be able to hear it and pinpoint her location, she plunged her hand into the whiteness to grapple for something she could use as a distraction.

She let out a relieved breath when her fingers closed around the spiny ridges of a pinecone, stifling herself quickly when she heard two noises of reaction from within.

_Kkkkkr. Kkk-kkk-kkkr._

Immediately, Ellie tossed the object over her head, to clatter loudly across the rooftop and down the other side, into the snow below.

Pinching her eyes shut against the four shrieks she could make out, Ellie let out the breath she'd been holding, slowly, and aimed at the closest one. It was dead before it could fully get out the door – the fungal plate emerging from its skull was blown off by her shot.

The other two that she could see had frozen in place, clicking to hone in on where the echoing sound had come from, and were now stumbling frantically toward her.

Not having time to make such a precise shot again, Ellie messily improvised. She sent one sprawling into the snow with a blow to the leg.

The other creature screeched and flailed its arms wildly, seeking her. By the time she'd adjusted her aim it was almost upon her. She could smell the pungent stink of old fungus coming off it in waves; it was almost enough to stagger her.

She fired, painting both the snow and her own face with blood when the bullet pierced through the monster's throat at point-blank range.

Not pausing, her movements were fluid and graceful – much to her own surprise – as she unloaded several more resounding shots into the crippled one crawling towards her, until her gun clicked empty, and it finally lie still.

Her breath was short and sharp as she stared with wide eyes at the bodies. Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she didn't register the fear or sickness that came with killing like she sometimes did, and instead trembled with the thrill of having lived through yet another close encounter.

Heaving a shuddering gasp, she swallowed thickly and slowly lowered the gun.

_KKKKKKK -_

In the next instant, she was on her side on the ground; the empty pistol in the snow and a heavy body atop hers.

The putrid and snapping maw of the Clicker strained closer to her throat. She held it at bay with her available arm and an arched knee against its stomach.

The grotesque smell invaded her senses and made her limbs weak. She felt the top row of its teeth graze the sensitive skin of her neck and reacted in a panicked explosion of movement.

With a mighty cry, Ellie shoved against the creature. Her idle hand made contact with a lump in her pocket, and she dove her fingers into the denim before rolling forward and plunging the switchblade into the Clicker's belly.

It didn't seem to react, aside from letting go of her for a split second. It was the split second she needed.

Driving her hand forward again, she pierced it a second time. The creature fell backwards, writhing and howling in pain, until finally stilling as she used her new leverage to aim for where she estimated its heart to be.

Panting, Ellie sluggishly crawled off the body. Her hands were shaking more violently this time, and she dropped her re-sheathed knife a few times before at last managing to put it back in her pocket successfully.

The blood on her face was already cracking from the cold, and it pulled at her skin, making it itch uncomfortably. She scratched at it before lethargically getting to her feet to finish what she'd started.

The first house wasn't very secure or warm and only had a little bit of supplies. She shoved them into her backpack and moved on.

Ellie went through several houses, finding them all of similar quality. Most were rotted away in places and would not provide adequate shelter unless fixed up.

At last she found one. The basement was still fairly insulated, and there were a few cans of edible food left in the kitchen. She searched the bedrooms and found a single mattress. The odor wasn't pretty, but she could air it out until nightfall. All the blankets had long been eaten away by moths and age. She scoured the laundry room next, but her heart sank when all bedding there had to be deemed unusable as well.

Other houses yielded similar results. When she came up empty-handed in the final dwelling, she cursed and kicked at a haphazard pile of clothing. A green and white plaid corner caught her attention, and she quickly shoved the other items aside.

There it was – a beautifully intact wool comforter. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief and snatched it up, running outside to set it up in the basement she'd deemed their home until Joel got better.

Something caught her eye in the darkness, and squinting, she moved over to it. It was a bow – and a damn sturdy one at that. She picked it up and tested the string. It did not groan or fray at her handling, and she hesitated before slowly shouldering it. She didn't necessarily need it, but thinking about it, it wouldn't feel right using Joel's weapons. It would be like accepting he was gone, and she couldn't do that. She'd shot bows back in Boston, and was pretty fucking good at it. She ran her hands along the polished wood of the arch from where she kept it on her shoulder, before moving on.

Heaving the mattress outside, Ellie left it in a sunbeam, hoping the drying warmth would kill any mold that was making that smell. Once she was satisfied with her work, and that she could support an injured person here, she hiked back up the hill to where Joel was.

"Hey," she greeted the unconscious man. "I only found a few supplies, but at least we'll have shelter."

Ellie put her hand under his mouth, and waited for the warm breath to tickle her fingertips. But it never came.

"Joel?"

When had he stopped breathing? She'd been gone an hour, but there was still some color on his cheeks, telling her it hadn't been long enough to be too late.

"Shit," she cursed, grabbing Callus's reins to pull both man and horse into the garage of her sanctuary. "Don't you fucking die on me now, Joel!"

Yanking him off the animal, Ellie pressed him urgently to the ground and ducked her head to listen for a heartbeat.

There it was! Faint, but definitely beating.

'_I'm not gonna let you die on me!'_

Moving his face to look skywards, the girl rolled up her sleeves. Straightening her arms, she placed her hands flatly over his chest and used her shoulders to heave with all her might – once; twice. Again and again she pushed, before leaning forward to give him her breath.

His chest expanded with her exhale, but she didn't stop. Palpitating his heart several times again, she breathed for him a second time.

After fifteen minutes of this, however, her own heart plummeted with every unresponsive second that made this effort seem destined for failure. Some of the color returned to his complexion, but he still did not breathe on his own. Panting, Ellie watched and waited for a few agonizing seconds, before leaning down for one last desperate attempt to revive him.

As she sent her first breath into him, his lungs expanded of their own accord, wrenching the air from her. She released him, sputtering and coughing, before her own lungs shuddered out an awed gasp as the man's chest continued to heave on its own.

'_He's alive! He's gonna fucking make it!' _she rejoiced in her head, scarcely believing her own eyes as Joel lie there on the concrete ground, breathing almost like normal and looking merely asleep.

It was a balm to her soul, and as the adrenaline that had kept her functioning gave way to mind-numbing fatigue, Ellie pulled the blanket over him, pushed her backpack under his head, and lay herself down by Joel's side. She was too tired to care about the cold, or lack of her own pillow, and fell into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

…

When Ellie awoke, it was dusk out. With a jaw-popping yawn, she sleepily checked Joel's breathing and fever, relieved when both were at an acceptable level, before heading out to fetch the airing mattress.

The smell wasn't gone, but was now at a more tolerable level. Grunting and tugging, she maneuvered the item inside the relative warmth of the basement. She waved her hand in front of her face to ward off the dust that sprayed up when she dropped it on the floor. Her chest heaved in a resigned sigh when she realized she would have to move Joel again.

"Okay, Joel… Just bear with me while I get you on here."

The man responded with a shuddering breath through his teeth and she knew he was awake, again, though he still seemed too weak to say anything.

Spreading her legs for better leverage, she hefted him up by his underarms and pulled him crudely down the stairs, hoping fervently that she wouldn't reopen his wounds. Once they were in the warmer area, she heaved his upper body onto the mattress. He grunted, and she paused, worried that she'd hurt him, before an unmistakable acrid scent reached her nose. Her eyes widened in understanding.

Honestly, it hadn't even crossed her mind until then that he'd have to go to the bathroom at some point, but now she felt stupid for never thinking of it. She knew she should feel embarrassed, and maybe she was, but mostly she felt herself going back into survivor mode as she realized the problem wouldn't solve itself.

Moving the rest of him onto the mattress, she kept the blanket respectfully over his lower half once she'd undone the button and zipper. Ellie discarded the soiled garments – setting his belt with the pistol and revolver a short distance away – and withdrew new ones from his seemingly bottomless backpack.

How she got them on him without being able to lift him was a miracle in and of itself, but within a few minutes, she had him fully clothed and tucked in. Before letting herself relax, though, she once again lifted the edge of his shirt to check the wound. It was staring to look bruised, but the stitches were holding and there was no more bleeding or moisture.

Laying a hand on his forehead, she exhaled heavily. _'You'll be okay. I won't let you die, Joel.'_

A human cry ripped through the silence of the air, primal and guttural. In the garage, Callus tossed his head and pawed at the ground. Ellie ran to look out the window.

Seven or eight rapidly approaching silhouettes were all she could make out in the darkness.

"Shit," she cursed. "Runners. I forgot to move the bodies."

They surged upon the Clicker carcasses like a pack of wolves – screaming and gnawing and ripping. Crunching, slurping, and tearing.

Ellie's breath fogged the glass until she could see no more, and she slowly backed away.

She drew her new bow silently, before crouching over the prone Joel, protectively.

'_We're okay… They don't know we're here.' _

She repeated the mantra in her head as the sickening noises continued.

Hoarse cries, a wet squelching, and rapid footfalls in the snow.

The front door burst open above them, and she stifled a noise. Were they following the smell of blood she still had on her? She dared to get up and lock the door connecting the house to their location. Gulping down her shuddering breaths, she moved back to Joel.

Clenching the weapon until she felt the pain of her own nails digging into her skin, she let the numb pain jolt her further into her instincts. Honing her senses, she listened to the flurry of movement above her.

It was just the one, and Ellie hoped it would give up and decide there was no food in here. She could not kill it quietly without opening the creaky door and alerting the others.

Callus, the wonder horse, did not utter a peep from the other room.

So focused was she, that she startled violently at the hand touching her arm. She gave Joel a wild look that the man reciprocated, his hand tightening around the pistol he held. They shared a look that only two people that had survived for several months together could share, before their eyes went silently back to the ceiling.

Crashing sounds and more screaming echoed from above as the rest of the horde entered. Whether they were following the blood on her body or merely seeking warmth, she didn't know.

Finally the first crash came against the door to their room.

'_Oh man…'_ she thought breathlessly.

Joel loaded his gun grimly. Ellie watched the bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed, before drawing her bow and aiming it at the door.

Several agonizing minutes ticked by, with nothing but the sound of crashing and screeching. Ellie's arm grew numb with strain, but she did not lower it.

Another minute ticked by. Two.

Finally, the sounds grew dim. The impact on the door halted.

She could still hear them shuffling around upstairs, but they had died down to the anguished sobs she'd come to associate with more restful infected. Slowly lowering her arm, she looked at Joel, to see his eyes closed, though she could tell he was not asleep.

"I think we're safe for the night," she whispered. "I'll stay awake – you rest."

He shook his head, confirming her suspicions about his wakefulness.

"We'll take turns. I can stay awake." His eyes opened to level her with a serious expression.

Ellie wanted to argue, but his tone left no room for discussion, and she only stared back before nodding.

"Okay."

Severely injured or not, she trusted him. He was a good liar, but not good enough; and she knew that at least this time, he was not bluffing when he said he could do it.

"How's your fever?"

"I'm fine," he responded sternly.

That was a lie. But she let it go and instead turned her attention back to the door.

A few seconds passed, before, "What happened to your face?"

She turned back to him again. "What?"

He gestured to his own face with one hand. "The blood. What happened?"

"Oh," she itched at the peeling red liquid again, before rubbing her nose and sniffling. "This house wasn't unoccupied. There were more infected, but I managed by myself." She paused before looking at the ground, "You would've been impressed if you'd seen. They were Clickers."

He hesitated before his gaze morphed into that almost-soft look he sometimes got with her.

"Yeah…" he sighed, expelling a burst of misty breath. "I'll take the first shift, Ellie. You look awful."

She huffed out a laugh. "Gee, thanks." But she recognized the gesture for what it was and did not argue.

Pulling her backpack up, she lie her head down on it and tried to close her eyes. It was going to be another long night.

…

Her consciousness lurched into the waking world with a hand on her shoulder, shaking her. Sitting up, she realized how light it was getting in their little room, and looked at Joel.

"Why didn't you wake me up, sooner?" she demanded, "We were supposed to take turns."

"We are," he responded. "Yours starts, now."

"It's fucking dawn," she argued.

He ignored her. "Listen."

She did.

"I don't hear anything," she stated moodily, irritated at his stunt. Then it dawned on her, and her voice changed. "They're gone…"

"Not all of them, there's still one or two of 'em outside," he responded, urgently.

Nodding, she rose to her feet to unlock the door. Opening it quietly, she moved into a crouched position. Pressing herself against the wall, Ellie listened intently.

There. Outside the house. Two pairs of footfalls crunched about in the snow's crust.

The front door was still open from their intrusion last night, and she crept out into the white expanse of ground. She saw the once-humans before they noticed her, and readied her bow.

Pulling it into a graceful arch, she forced herself to hold it steady and aim for the head.

_Twang -_

The arrow sliced through the morning air, straight towards its goal.

Her brain spared a moment to celebrate as the spearhead hit its mark, piercing deep into the skull of one of the two Runners. However, the moment was broken as the other whirled around, letting out a savage cry before charging at her. Its speed crippled her ability to draw – let alone aim – another arrow.

"Oh shit," she hissed, dropping the bow.

Reacting with a quick speed of her own, Ellie's hand dove into her pocket to draw her switchblade. She barely had time to brace herself, with both hands clasped around the weapon before the humanoid was upon her.

Shoving forward as she was bowled over backwards, she heard a scream and felt the impact; a warm rush of blood over her hands as its own momentum did it in.

Pushing the body off her, Ellie coughed harshly against the smell of blood and fungus. She tugged on her knife, but it only made a squishy sound and stayed stuck in the creature's eye socket. Ellie braced her foot against its shoulder before heaving backwards until the weapon finally came loose. She wiped it off in the snow before heading back inside.

Callus was okay, she found, if not a little shaken up. She spared a few moments to stroke his neck, before Joel calling her name brought her back downstairs.

"Ellie!"

"I'm fine," she assured, peeking through the door. "They're dead."

He sighed in what she could only guess was relief.

"Joel, I'm going to take Callus to move the bodies. Do you need anything before I go?"

"No. Be careful," he warned.

"Of course."

Closing the door behind her, Ellie leaned against the wall to take a few deep breaths and calm her racing heart. After a few seconds, she pushed off and headed to Callus.

…

A/N: Chapter two will hopefully be up, soon! Just bear with me, folks.

And as for infected being cannibalistic, well… They eat regular people, so why not each other, if they need to? To be honest, I have no clue if they are, but it suited the purposes of the fic, so I went with it.


	2. Fucking Callus

A/N: Thank you so much for all your kind reviews! Every time I read one, it makes me open Word and start writing. Call me corny, but you guys reading really just inspires me so much. Now without further ado, here is part two!

…

_Schfft –_

The arrow missed its mark and the deer sprinted away, kicking up snow and debris in its wake. Ellie cursed vehemently and climbed aboard Callus – squeezing her legs against her mount to coax him into a harsh run and taking off after the other animal.

Its white tail bobbed in and out of sight as it weaved through the trees, and the girl tried to keep Callus within range. If she could just drive it into a corner…

Branches clawed at them, but Callus, ever the loyal trooper, only snorted and kept going. Ellie felt little spurts of adrenalin when he jumped over a fallen log or a hole in the ground, and it kept her thin body strong against the weakness.

Three weeks. It had been three fucking weeks since they'd arrived and set up a makeshift home in the basement of an abandoned house, and Joel had only gotten worse. He'd been almost like normal for a while, except for the pain, but infection had quickly set in. She'd spent the better part of two weeks inside, day and night, just nursing his fevers.

Today was the first day she'd been forced to venture out. Their food hadn't lasted long, and she had desperately set out to find something she could glean some meat from and ease the hunger pangs she and Joel were experiencing.

The deer hesitated for the briefest of moments, before veering off in another direction completely.

Ellie crouched forward in the saddle to urge Callus on. "C'mon, boy."

The familiar words hurt; her throat raw and sore from lack of use and the biting cold seeping into it. Still, the horse's ears swiveled to heed her command and the war drum beat of his hooves increased, matching the pounding of her heart.

Finally, the deer hit the dead end she'd been hoping for, pawing and pacing before starting to climb the rocky incline. Ellie leaped off of Callus and ripped back the string of her bow.

She hit her mark this time, and the deer screamed before tumbling down from where it was precariously balancing against the jutting rocks.

The smell of blood and animal did not sicken her, and instead sent her mind into a drugging fog. She crouched over to inspect her kill and make sure it was dead, silently repeating to herself that the damn thing needed to be cooked, first.

'_Let's not do it this way again…' _she resolved. _'The horse can't handle it much longer, and our luck might not be so good next time.'_

Grabbing the front legs, she pulled it over to the skinny Callus, who merely snorted before leaning over to groom her hair with his lips. She pushed him gently away before drawing on her remaining reserves of strength to heft the deer up and over his back. Securing it, Ellie took a moment to catch her breath before hoisting herself onto the horse and steering him towards home.

Fucking Callus… If she didn't have this horse, she'd probably have gone batshit crazy by now.

…

It rained that night. Ellie sat in the darkness, too tired to even think as the heavy deluge pounded on the rooftop. There were holes in the roof upstairs, and she'd sterilized some containers with alcohol to catch the trickling water. An idea she'd picked up from those damn sewers. One couldn't eat snow every day.

Her eyes rested closed, but she could not sleep. Joel had taken to a high fever again, and she needed to watch over him. His sleep was fitful and he mumbled deliriously – mostly about Sarah – but at least for tonight, he was well fed. The carved up deer was inside due to the rain. She hoped it would snow again soon, so she could use nature's freezer to squeeze some more days out of its edibility.

Joel shifted and she opened her eyes, staring at the weathered face, peppered grey with facial hair. It didn't matter that she couldn't keep him alive forever – she didn't have the luxury of thinking about their situation that way. All that mattered is that they were both here in that moment, and how to get what they next needed.

Screams rang out through the air, and she closed her eyes again.

Infected. She was used to their presence by now and did not react with the wild urgency she had for the first week. They would likely pass by as soon as they realized they could not find the deer, and she needed every bit of her energy.

She was so tired…

…

With enough meat to last, Ellie set out the next day only with the intention of placing some traps. They were crappily made, she had to admit, but would hopefully serve their purpose of catching some smaller game and ensuring they wouldn't get so desperate for food again.

Callus stood there, skinny and humble about the whole situation while she cursed and struggled with a snare. Ellie hadn't been the only victim of starvation. While she could give half her food to Joel, there was no possible way to share with the horse, save for a bit of rice she'd been feeding him. Whenever she could, she took him out to graze, but with Joel's fevers, that had been few and far between.

She felt horrible, but didn't know what else to do. Attention had to be his only reward for sticking by her, and the two had developed a strong bond through it.

"That should do it," she stated, standing. "Hopefully we'll catch something. Let's go home, boy."

She gripped his reins while he nickered at her, and pulled him away.

Ellie came to a difficult decision that evening. She would release Callus into the wild and fend for herself, in the hopes of giving her friend a better chance of surviving. The traps were working relatively well, and shooting from horseback wasn't something she wanted to try, anyway. She mostly brought him along for the company.

She laced her shoes, picked up her arrows and slung her backpack over her shoulders. Callus knew they were going out and flicked his tail before blinking soft, brown eyes at her. It pulled at her heart to see the familiar behavior.

Riding him into the woods a relative distance away from their dwelling, Ellie looked at the animal. His eyes were faded from the wise but lively spark he'd had back when they were travelling to the University, with Joel. His hip bones and ribs poked out and his fur was ratty and unkempt. He looked in as sorry a state as she herself did, and it unsettled her.

Reaching forward, she petted him before leaning up to take his neck into her arms.

"Thanks for sticking with me, boy," she whispered.

Callus didn't make a sound as he arched his graceful neck to nuzzle against her shoulder. This wasn't uncommon of him to do, but for some reason it stuck with her this time, and she felt herself wondering if he knew what was happening.

She slid off his bridle and unbuckled his saddle. Pushing against him to turn him around towards the woods, she slapped his rump lightly. He didn't move. She pushed more and slapped again, but he just blinked at her.

"Go, you dumb horse," she grunted as she shoved against his rear end.

Finally she was forced to strike him with her bow, smacking his hindquarters hard enough to leave a welt. Callus jerked and whinnied before taking off, shooting into the forest. Sighing heavily, Ellie watched him go until he was out of sight, before picking up his tack and heading back.

Didn't feel right to throw it out.

…

Ellie yawned and stretched – her muscles less sore from not hunting yesterday. Joel seemed well today, but was still asleep, and she let him be. He needed rest more than food and water after two days of being well fed on deer.

Pulling on her shoes, she reached for the door knob, knowing that she'd have to walk to check the snares from now on.

Callus was on the porch.

He bobbed his head in greeting and approached her. She just stared as he started nudging at her shoulder for attention, not the least put out by yesterday's event.

Her hand automatically came up to pet his nose, which placated him. Shaking her head, she sighed heavily in resignation to her failed attempt at releasing the loyal horse.

Fucking Callus…

…

The snares kept them going for a while, and Ellie gradually put some weight back on. Callus, despite being released to graze every night, was still skinny. Today, Ellie was taking him to forage for something more substantial to his health than grass that was brittle and wilted under the blanket of snow.

The air was thick with silence as they trotted along. Ellie didn't bother keeping quiet – they weren't here to spend their daylight hunting, when they had the traps for now. Callus needed some nutrition, and damn if she wasn't going to get it for him after all he had put up with for her.

Bouncing in the saddle with his movement, she took careful stock of any landmarks she could, in case it started to snow and rendered their footprints useless. Though she doubted the horse would let her get lost, anyway, it lessened her anxiety at being away from Joel for so long.

Ellie slowed Callus to a walk as they at last approached a cluster of small cabins. Dismounting, she approached the first one. They'd come quite a ways, and this was rather isolated. She hoped no one had picked them clean, yet.

Peeking through each window, she saw that the interiors were relatively untouched, and free of infected. Maybe the inside was colder than it looked. Opening the first door brought with it the familiar smell of rotten food and mold. Whoever had lived here had left in a hurry.

Scrounging through the cupboards of all the cabins yielded several boxes of ammo, more rice and several canned goods. She sifted through those.

'_Bingo.'_

Canned fruits and veggies – a lot of them.

'_Hmph…. Must've been a health nut,' _she mused. _'Lucky for Callus.'_

Between the ammo, a bag of rice, and a multitude of canned foods, it didn't take long for her backpack to become full. She'd have to leave most of the houses alone for now, but at least she had knowledge of this stash. That thought made it easier to leave behind.

The way back was slow. The sun was getting low and both she and Callus were tired. She was right in that she didn't even need to direct the animal once, and she let the rhythmic clopping soothe her.

Ellie hadn't even realized she'd fallen into a light doze. All she knew was there was a loud animal sound, and Callus rearing suddenly – throwing the half-asleep girl from her place atop him.

The cold powder and jarring thud against hard-packed earth jolted her into full wakefulness. There was a blur of motion to her right, and she turned to see Callus rearing and braying against something.

She dumbly looked on.

There! The something finally stood still long enough for her eyes to process it. It was a cougar, snarling and clawing at the frantic horse. It wasn't landing any hits, but Callus also wasn't running away, so it was only a matter of time.

Why the fuck wasn't he moving? The big cat made a leaping swipe and landed only a few feet from her. Callus reacted instantly, but in such a way that made it obvious it was no coincidence.

The horse stationed himself between the puma and herself, flailing his hooves aggressively at the other animal. It backed off and bared its teeth ferociously, but did not give up.

'_He's protecting me!' _she realized.

Shooting up, Ellie grappled frantically for her backpack. Tearing through the supplies she'd picked up, she at last reached the bottom, where her pistol lie. She pointed the weapon, but with the grappling creatures, she couldn't get a clear shot.

Panicking, she aimed skyward and fired several shots. They rang out through the area. The cougar yowled before turning tail and darting off into the trees. Callus snorted and approached her. She threw herself around his neck, shaking with the aftermath.

"You fucking crazy horse…" she breathed out. "Shit…"

Callus only nibbled lightly at her hair. Ellie huffed a laugh and held him a moment longer before finally coming to his side and climbing back into the saddle.

"Let's go home before whatever those shots attracted shows up."

…

A week later and food was scarce again, as winter officially set in. Ellie, Joel, and Callus were all relatively healthy thanks to the large stock of canned goods she went back and forth for. But in time, those too were running thin, despite Ellie's efforts in rationing them.

The snares were coming up empty, and she found herself once again in a situation where she'd have to venture out with her bow and arrows. Ellie shouldered them before polishing her knife and heading to where Callus stood stabled in the garage.

It was cold and still, with only the occasional cry of a loon breaking through the thick silence. Ellie kept herself and the horse quiet, but no wildlife appeared from the blanket of snow.

Several hours later and they were further than they'd ever been. Callus snorted and faltered at the invisible line, but Ellie pushed him onward. She was as nervous as he was, but they couldn't go back empty-handed.

Cresting a hill, she pulled him to a halt. Her olive green eyes scanned the setting carefully, looking for the white pelts of winter animals. This was rough terrain they were in, now; away from the relatively flat expanses of human settlements.

Movement.

It was a rabbit, but it was plump enough to make a decent meal. She took aim as it emerged from its hole, pulling the string back until the arrow's fletching brushed her cheek. Waiting for a moment of stilled movement, she released. The arrow whizzed through the air and pierced the animal cleanly.

Pulling Callus down and to the burrow, she approached her kill and lifted it for inspection, before sliding the arrow out if its middle.

"Oh," she sighed, "This won't last very long."

They needed something else, she decided, as she tied her catch to Callus's saddle strings.

Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, and she turned to glance at it. Ellie gaped. It was a deer, and a big one at that. The animal trotted off at her movement, and she reacted quickly.

Remembering her usual luck with deer, Ellie frantically looped the horse's reins around a nearby tree branch.

"You'll just startle it," she told him, before jogging off in the direction the creature had gone.

The silence was thick in her ears as she quietly maneuvered her way down the small incline its footprints lead to. However, the valley seemed devoid of life.

"Where'd you go?" she whispered, and pulled her bow from her shoulder to hold it ready in her hands.

Creeping forward with intent, she didn't notice the brittle twig until it was too late.

_Snap._

Ellie heard a panicked snort and the drumming of hooves before the buck emerged from behind a boulder and thundered his way across the snow and out of sight again.

"There you are…"

Forcing herself to breathe out slowly and calm down, Ellie tightened her grip on the lacquered wood. She couldn't lose this deer.

She moved slowly, with only the sound of her own fogged breath reaching her ears. The all-consuming whiteness was broken only by rocks, sickly trees, and the peppering of black soil.

Figuring a vantage point would do her some good, Ellie carefully climbed onto a rocky outcrop that overlooked the dip in the land.

There he was; several feet down and away, grazing lazily and completely unaware of her presence. She pulled back the string.

'_Easy…' _she reminded herself as her heart rate increased.

She fired.

A pained cry rang out through the clearing, and Ellie's heart swelled with elation.

"Gotcha!" she cried in triumph.

She forced the emotions down and dropped off the mini plateau to follow the animal. When she arrived at where it had been standing, she crouched to inspect the red-stained snow. She really had hit it. So why was it still running?

The blood trail and footprints led forward, so she kept low and followed them.

It didn't take as long as she'd thought to come across the heavily wounded animal. It was limping and panting badly, and Ellie bit her lip before taking aim again.

Another scream from the deer and it was taking off again.

"Oh man…" she breathed.

The loon called out in the distance as set to tracking it again.

She knew the deer was large, but this was ridiculous. The tracks and blood led on for several more minutes and she saw no sign of the actual creature. The blood was getting thicker and thicker; the footprints more chaotic.

"How are you still alive?"

Coming to a fence, Ellie hesitated. She'd come quite a long ways, and settlements often meant people or infected – neither of which she wanted to deal with.

Still, she needed that deer…

She hopped the blockade and continued on. The trail led over an incline. Below it lie a ramshackle building, long eroded.

"What is this place?" she wondered aloud, crouching lower and softening her footsteps even more as she took the first steps inside.

A woodpecker clicked nearby.

"Oh great…" she breathed, the panic setting in. "Everything's cool… This place is not creepy at all…"

A crumbled sign lay on the ground with several wooden beams.

'_A mining facility…'_

That explained the ominous atmosphere. She wondered how many people used to work here, before the cordyceps.

Creeping around the corner, she peeked out the doorway.

"Oh."

Lying not far from the exit was the deer. Ellie rushed up to check it, and found it was dead.

'_Okay,' _she mused, breathing heavily. _'How do I get this big guy out of here?'_

She supposed the only thing that made sense was to go get Callus and bring him here. There was no way she could carry the dead weight.

A twig snapped to her left, and she whirled around, bow at the ready and heart pounding.

"Who's there?!"

…

A/N: Sorry for the shortness… This was one of those chapters that are hard to write because it's just wading through sticky, gooey, filler. But I really wanted to expand on a bond between Ellie and Callus that the game didn't. I promise the final chapter will likely be longer, and it will have a lot more action. You know why.


	3. David

A/N: I meant to mention this at the beginning of chapter 1, but forgot: for the purposes of this fic, I'm going with the logical assumption that the cordyceps fungus travels much slower through shared saliva than by getting directly into the bloodstream (plus you don't swallow while you are unconscious). The resuscitation scene wasn't a time I wanted to address it, so I didn't, but I personally believe that Ellie could transmit it. However I still left it open to interpretation like the game itself did.

I have also fixed my own stupid misspelling of 'reins' as of this chapter. You'd think a girl who spent her entire youth around horses would know how to spell their terminology, right? Ugh.

As always, every review means so much. Thank you for the ones you've left!

Enjoy!

…

"Come out!" Ellie demanded, her bow still pointed towards the noise.

Slowly, a figure emerged from behind the tree. Then another. Her pulse raced as she realized she was clearly outnumbered, and these men had weapons.

"Hello… We just wanna talk," the first man assured, holding out his arms as if to placate her.

"Any sudden moves and I put one right between your eyes," she declared, hoping she sounded braver than she felt. "Ditto for buddy boy over there."

The younger man held up his hands in the same gesture, looking at the one that seemed to be the leader briefly, for guidance. It didn't seem like they were going to draw their weapons, but they had clearly been tracking her.

"What do you want?"

The older man hesitated, before answering. "My name's David. This here's my friend, James."

Ellie frantically kept her bow trained back and forth between the two strangers.

"We're from a larger group – women, children – we're all very, very hungry."

So they were out to get her food.

'_A hungry group, huh? Yeah, I'm not buying it, old man.'_

But two could play at that game, and so she answered, "So am I – women and children – all very hungry, too."

David and James looked at each other for a moment, clearly deciding to change tactics. David spoke again, "Well, maybe we could trade you for some of that meat, there. What do you need? Weapons, ammo, clothes-"

Ellie's heart leapt and she was interrupting him before she could stop herself, "Medicine!"

She paused after her outburst, reining in her emotions to carefully mask her face behind stoicism again. "Do you have any antibiotics?"

She held her breath as David and James looked at each other again.

"We do. Back at the camp."

Ellie's heart thudded painfully against her chest with elation, but she still kept her bow up.

"You're welcome to follow us-"

David started approaching her, and she panicked, taking a threatening step forward in the hopes that he would back off. "I'm not following you anywhere!" she cut in, frantically.

Wracking her brain for a way to get what she needed out of this situation, without putting Joel or herself at risk, she slowly answered, "Buddy boy can go get it. He comes back with what I need, the deer is all yours."

She felt immense relief when he took a step back.

"Anyone else shows up-" she let the threat hang in the air, and was pleased when the overly-friendly bastard proved to not be as dumb as she'd thought.

"You put one right between my eyes," he finished.

"That's right."

David stared at his friend for a minute, as if debating something, before finally giving his order. "Two bottles of the penicillin and a syringe."

James looked like he wanted to disagree, but held his tongue.

"Make it fast. Go on." David commanded again, and the younger man hesitated before turning back the way they'd supposedly come.

Ellie eyed the weapon over David's shoulder. It made her nervous. "I'll take that rifle."

The man complied easily enough, much to her relief. "Of course."

He dropped the firearm a short distance away, and she approached cautiously. "Back up."

He did. Ellie quickly shouldered her arrows and snatched up the rifle. She took a moment to check how many bullets were in the chamber, before pointing the loaded weapon at him.

Several seconds of silence ticked by. David looked around nervously, but Ellie was quite comfortable now that she had the clear advantage. Who the hell were these people and why hadn't she seen them around before? She doubted that a large group could travel around in this weather, if he was telling the truth.

"He's probably gonna be a while," the unsettled man laughed, "You uh… mind if we take some shelter from the cold?"

Ellie supposed that was a reasonable enough request. It was starting to snow again.

"Bring him with us." She gestured to the deer.

David stepped forward with trepidation, but Ellie let him. He grabbed the buck's antlers and began to drag him into the nearby building.

…

"There," the man sighed, poking at the miniature fire they'd constructed.

Ellie sat across from him with the rifle in hand, gaze everywhere. The room seemed secure enough, but she didn't trust the man to keep his word about not bringing reinforcements, just yet.

His voice brought her out of her musings. "You know you really shouldn't be out here all on your own."

She made a sour face at his insinuations. "I don't like company."

"I see," David said, before trying again, "What's your name?"

What was this guy's problem? He was way too friendly to be normal.

"Why?" she snapped dryly.

He seemed only slightly put out by her rebuffs. "Look, I understand it's not easy to trust a couple of strangers. Whoever's hurt, you clearly care about them."

She didn't want to reveal anything to this guy, but he was starting to get to her. With no one but a horse to talk to in several weeks, it was hard to resist even a stranger's charm.

"I'm sure it's gonna be just fine," he stated with a kind smile.

She sighed, thinking of Joel and how much this medicine would help him. Maybe she did owe these people something.

"We'll see," she said.

_Kkkkrrrr…_

Rising immediately, Ellie saw David do the same out of the corner of her eye. He rushed to the window, but she forced herself to stay still, eyes darting around to see where the sound had come from.

Movement flashed to her right and she faced the Clicker.

_Kkkkrr krrrkk._

Reflex had her taking a step back before she could stop herself. Her foot collided with the deer behind her and the creature screeched as it pinpointed her. She stood frozen as it rapidly closed the few feet between them, unable to aim the rifle in time.

Two shots rang out. The Clicker fell to the ground, writhing and screaming with agony. David ran to her side, taking aim at the creature's head to finish it off. Ellie stared breathlessly.

"You had another gun?"

He hesitated, before giving her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

More noises of alertness had her moving the rifle up into position. It sounded like a lot.

"Okay, I'd really like my rifle back, now." David held out his hand as if to take it from her.

"No," she asserted, "You have your pistol."

Something she didn't like flashed across his face, before it melted back into the kindly look – marred only with anxiety and age. "I hope you know how to use that thing."

Her breath came in rapid misty sparkles. "I've had some practice."

He closed the door and covered the carcass. "Let's hope they don't find him…"

He then told her to cover the windows. She barely heard her own reply under the loud beating of her heart, as she strained her senses to listen for where they'd be coming from.

A creature thundered towards the building and she turned towards it. Her vision blurred with the extreme alacrity and it took her a few precious seconds to take aim and fire. The body went down instantly. However, another two were already crashing against the side of the boarded windows. The old wood creaked and groaned against the abuse.

'_Fuck,'_ she seethed, seeing five more running down the hill, even as she dispatched the imminent threats.

Gunshots sounded from the other side of the room just as Ellie took aim at the closest one. She turned to find David fending off several more infected on his side. Some windows had only broken glass between him and the monsters.

Without thinking, she ran to his side. He wasn't Joel, but they were still in this together right now. If either lost the other, they themselves would be doomed.

The man was caught between reloads, and a Runner was closing in on him, fast.

Ellie fired and quickly sent it sprawling to the ground. Others were still clawing their way in.

"You weren't kidding," he thanked her. "You're a better shot with that thing than I am!"

His eyes darted around the room before landing on a metal cabinet against the wall.

"Gimme a hand with this," he stated urgently, and began to push it towards the exposed windows.

Ellie obliged, bracing her weight and shoving forward from the side. The moaning of boards from the other side of the building told her that it wouldn't be long before they buckled under the blows of the infected she hadn't killed.

"Argh, c'mon, c'mon…"

_KKKKRRRR –_

A fungal hand shot out of the gap between the cabinet and window. It gripped her jacket and pulled, slamming her back against the wall towards the snapping teeth.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone, as David wrenched her out of the way before putting a bullet in its head.

"Oh shit…" she gasped, holding her chest.

She didn't have time to recover, as the boards collapsed, and the infected swarmed in.

"More infected on this side," he cried. "They must've followed you!"

"Maybe they followed you and your friend," she snapped back.

"It don't matter. Now we're stuck in this, together."

No more talking ensued, as everything turned into a blur of motion and a thunderclap of bullets. When they got too close, they each lashed out with fists or knife. One by one, the infected fell.

Ellie panted, covered in blood, grime and sweat. The old man didn't look much better off, as he scoured around the perimeter, looking out every window.

"Screw it," he finally said. "We're gettin' outta this room!"

"Fucking infected," she cursed, rushing through the door he kicked open.

"Cover the stairs," he commanded. "I'll block their path!"

Ellie took up position as David shoved against a bookshelf. Two Clickers fell to her weapon as he finally closed off the path.

"Here," he handed her a box, "More rifle ammo."

She took it without a word, and followed him obediently through the next door when he beckoned.

It led into a factory of rusted machines.

"Do you know where you're going?" she asked.

"I've never set foot in this place."

"Oh. Great."

She let him take point, keeping her weapon at the ready as they raced forward.

"This way!" He led her up a flight of stairs onto a grated walkway.

"Right behind you," she huffed.

"How're you holding up?"

"You don't need to worry about me."

"All right, stay close."

He leapt over a fallen box, and she moved to follow him. A deep creaking sound was her only warning before the world rushed downward and she was in a painful heap on the ground below. She looked up to see David's worried face peering from the walkway above her.

"Hey, kid – you all right?"

She groaned and sat up. "I'm fine…"

_Krrrkkkkrr…_

"More Clickers," he panted, before shouting, "Get outta there!"

That was the last she saw of him, as he turned to flee his pursuers. Wasting no time, Ellie moved forward, hugging the wall before carefully peering around it. She could hear at least three, but could only see one. Breathing as quietly as possible, she leaned back against the wall. Closing her eyes, she steadied her heart and tried to quell the shaking in her hands.

Before she could decide what to do, several pistol shots rang out, alerting the Clickers in front of her and drawing them off her path. She took the chance and raced forward, ignoring when they turned their attention to her footsteps. Leaping off a nearby ledge, she frantically looked around.

There! A small ladder hung on the wall that would take her around to the other side. Ellie sped towards it, knowing they wouldn't be able to follow. Once up, she looked around for David.

A screech dead ahead of her. Another of the creatures had rounded the corner and was now flailing wildly towards her. Ellie raised the rifle before realizing she needed to reload.

'_Shit!'_

Frantically shoving bullets into the chamber, she pulled the bolt back, but knew she wouldn't make it in time.

Two shots blasted through the air and into the Clicker's skull. Ellie panted and watched with wide eyes as David emerged from the corner.

"You all right?" he asked, looking a little worse for wear.

"Oh," she breathed in relief, "There you are."

He nodded and gestured for her to follow him before doubling back the way he'd come. "C'mon – door's this way!"

Halting at a ledge, Ellie followed his gaze and saw the door atop it, out of reach.

"So close… We need to get up there." He paced at the bottom before looking around. "There – That ladder could work!"

The situation was achingly familiar, and Ellie once again wished it was Joel here with her. It was thanks to Joel that she knew what to do.

"Here," she said, walking up to another ledge that led back up to the grating. It was just short enough for a boost. "C'mere, boost me up."

It made her uncomfortable to insert her foot into his cupped hands as if he were the man she was used to. But she had no other choice, and shoved down the strange revulsion as he pushed her onto the ledge.

"All right, you be quick," he called up. "And keep a lookout for those things."

"I know," she answered.

Keeping low, her breath fogged in front of her face as she crept along the thin walkway. There was a clicking coming from a small alcove ahead, and she stopped.

Another one. It stumbled out, but didn't seem to notice her. Not wanting to alert anything else to her presence, Ellie pulled out her bow. She aimed for the head, steadied her hands, and released.

A dull crack reached her ears as the fungus protecting the skull succumbed to her shot, and the arrow pierced flesh. The Clicker crumpled to the floor.

The ladder lie beyond the body, and she sprinted toward it.

"All right," she huffed, shoving it off the ledge to the man waiting below, "Here you go."

"All right, c'mon."

David picked up the ladder and propped it against the door's ledge before climbing up. She followed.

The room was a dead end, the windows exposed with age, and Ellie shivered with the chill and creeping sense of dread.

"We need to find a way out of here," David stated the obvious.

"Yeah, no shit."

"You outta watch your language," he responded in disapproval.

Okay, this guy was weird, after all. Just where did he think they were?

"Okay old man…"

David ignored her and paced up and down, looking out every window. They were on the second floor, but even with only one entrance, two people were still sitting ducks in here. She headed up a sharp set of stairs, but there weren't any doors.

A pair of corpses lie on the floor, preserved almost perfectly by the cold. "Geez. Looks like someone already fought those things and lost."

"Oh, Lord," David came up beside her, and covered his nose from the stench she was long used to, "I've been lookin' for these boys."

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Grab their gear. I'm gonna look for an exit."

Searching the bodies yielded ammo, as well as a score of molotovs and nail bombs, and she swallowed hard, wishing for Joel. She'd never had to use weapons like these before, even if she'd seen him do it a thousand times.

Ellie stamped down the yearning. This wasn't the time to think of the situation like that. She stuffed the items in her backpack's outer pockets. David was quiet.

"See anything?" she yelled to him.

"It's a dead end…" he hissed, "How in the world did they use this building?"

"So what do we do?"

"We hold our ground."

Ellie shouldered her backpack again and cursed under her breath. "Is there any other choice?"

"We die."

"Right."

Screams rang out through the building, signaling the arrival of their foes.

'_Fuck!'_

The sound of the rifle was loud in her ears as she picked off the two that David wasn't focusing on.

Ellie watched the Clickers stumbling towards them as David reloaded.

"Get back," she told him.

"What?"

"Just fucking do it!"

The man obeyed and Ellie took out one of the molotovs. Her lighter's flame licked at the rag greedily, and she tossed it towards their pursuers.

The screams echoed in her ears, making them ring as the bottle of alcohol exploded over the ground, engulfing the creatures in fire and cutting off the pathway for any others. However, the sounds did not stop, and seemed only to get nearer.

"You hear that?" she called to David, "They're on the roof!"

"I know!"

The windows crashed open, and infected after infected swarmed in. It was instinct rather than tact that guided her hand. Her last molotov soared through the air, catching several in the blast and splashing others with the residue. She had to cover her ears to keep them from ringing with the agonized cries, this time.

The sound of something heavy landing behind her had her slowly moving her hands back down, as she turned.

"That doesn't sound good…" David's voice next to her let her know he was still breathing.

"It's a Bloater!" she yelled.

"A what?"

"One of those… big fucking guys!"

A deep bellow rumbled their eardrums as the huge creature leapt down. Ellie kept back.

"Oh, Lord…" David cursed.

Spores flew through the air and exploded on the ground near them. David covered his nose and ran. Ellie did the same; Joel's words about hiding her condition coming back to her.

"Hey kid, you still got those bombs?"

"I do," she answered, automatically handing him one before he could even ask.

"I'm gonna flank him – you keep him busy. Then at the same time."

Ellie only nodded to show she understood. David sped up the stairs, and Ellie panicked when the Bloater groaned and lumbered after him.

"Hey asshole!" she yelled, raising the rifle to fire three shots into its protective fungal plating.

They had no obvious effect, but it did turn back to her. She cursed and reloaded, keeping a far distance from its searching arms and fleeing the spores it dropped.

'_Holy shit, Joel… How do you make these things look so easy?'_

David's voice pulled her out of her trance of bobbing and weaving.

"Now, kid!"

Popping the fuse like a grenade, Ellie took only precious few seconds to adjust her aim, before tossing the item at the hulking creature's head. Twin explosions rang out in the air, and the Bloater screeched as its shell was easily blown off.

Wasting no time, David unloaded his clip into its newly exposed head. It was dead by the fourth bullet.

The screams subsided as the molotov fires finally ebbed to charred ashes. Ellie listened but heard no more footsteps on the roof.

David exhaled wearily. "Hey, kid?"

"Yeah?"

"You know, I think we did it."

Her face showed her doubt. "Like we killed all of 'em?"

"Oh," he laughed, "Don't sound so disappointed."

She huffed in response, wiping some sweat and blood from her forehead, "More like disbelief."

"I'll check the bridge."

She followed him after a quick once-over of the room. He was silent as he stared outside, and at first she feared the worst.

"Listen," he said as she came up to his side.

Ellie did, and found only silence greeted her. "No infected."

"No infected. What'd I tell ya?"

His kindly face smiled at her. "All right. Let's head on back; check on that buck of ours."

Ellie felt the praise in his friendly pat against her shoulder, and let it swell over her. Hell, she was proud of herself. It wasn't every kid who survived a whole hoard of infected, much less more than once.

With elation bubbling in her gut, she followed her new friend back to the fire and the deer.

"You handled yourself pretty nice back there," the man praised.

He huffed a laugh as they both sat down near the still-burning fire, again. "Whew… I'd say we make a pretty good team."

"Pssh," she laughed, relaxing for the first time that day as she set the rifle aside and began to warm her numb hands against the fire. "We got lucky."

It was Joel's staple, and she couldn't help herself repeating it. But David seemed to find the notion amusing.

"Lucky? No, no… No such thing as luck."

He prodded the fire with a stick and she watched him with interest. "No, you see I believe that everything happens for a reason."

Oh great. One of these guys.

Ellie didn't hide her incredulity as she snorted and turned away. "Sure."

"I do. And I can prove it to you."

She faced him again, and she supposed she found herself a bit interested. How nice it must be, to live every day thinking you had a reason to be alive. What was it the soldiers had said about the people? 'Ignorance is bliss.'

"Now," he started, "This winter has been especially cruel."

Ellie's hands were beginning to tingle painfully, and she pulled them to her face to blow hot air over her fingers.

David itched at his nose and continued as if the story pained him. "A few weeks back, I uh… sent a group up men out – to a nearby town to look for food."

This story was a familiar one everywhere they went, but Ellie still felt pity for the man as he spoke.

"Only a few came back."

Firelight reflected off his weathered face and she briefly wondered what all he had been through to make him look like that. It was the same thing she used to wonder about Joel.

"They said that the others had been, uh… slaughtered by a crazy man."

His sad face changed to a smile in the red glow, and he turned back to her.

"And get this, he's… a crazy man traveling… with a little girl."

The sooty stick moved to point at her, and all at once the story sunk in. Ellie's face changed as she stared at him, leaning away slightly with the revelation. The smile slipped from David's face again.

"You see? Everything happens for a reason."

She reacted like lightning – shooting up and reaching for the gun. Part of her wanted to blow his head off, and the rest of her just wanted to run like hell. She shuffled anxiously from one foot to the other in indecision.

"Now don't get upset," he reassured. "It's not your fault."

She stopped pacing as hope bloomed in her chest. Was he letting her go? The inherent mistrust gnawed at her insides.

"You're just a kid."

She watched him a few seconds longer before backing up to leave.

"James, lower the gun."

Ellie spun around with a sound to find the young man from earlier aiming a pistol at her head.

"No way, David," he said, voice full of emotion. "I'm not gonna let her go!"

"Lower the gun," David repeated patiently.

Glancing at the older man apprehensively, Ellie shifted on her feet again, knowing both men still had weapons. Slowly, agonizingly, James complied with the order.

"Now give her the medicine."

For a hot second, Ellie thought he might raise the gun again and shoot, but instead he tossed a small satchel on the floor. "The others won't be happy about this."

"Yeah, well, that's not your concern," David asserted.

It took Ellie a moment to decide whether to risk bending down to take the satchel at all. Joel's face flashed in front of her eyes and she found herself doing it automatically.

Eyes on James, she snatched up the item before rising quickly. She paced her way towards the exit, but James did not show any signs of being intimidated as he glared at her with pure hatred.

"Move the fuck out of the way," she demanded.

He did, and she shot towards the door, keeping the rifle trained on the two men.

"You won't survive long out there," David said. He was casually poking at the fire, again, before raising his eyes to hers. "I can protect you."

Ellie looked between the two, shaking her head at them and at herself for ever trusting another person with her and Joel's life. "No thanks."

She turned and fled from that horrible building with the man she had been naïve enough to ever feel some kind of camaraderie with. Looking back only when she had put a good distance between herself and the structure, she panted hard with both the pace and the adrenaline. Her footsteps were still there as half-buried imprints in the snow, and she followed them.

Callus was still waiting, and shook his head in greeting when she reached him. Pulling the reins back over his neck, she placed her foot in the stirrup. "Let's get outta here," she told him, heaving herself into the saddle and turning him back in the direction of home.

"Come on!" She squeezed her legs against his sides and then they were off.

…

They arrived at the house without any incident, but Ellie felt herself constantly checking behind them. Dismounting the horse, she looked behind them one last time before leading him towards his place in the garage.

"Come on."

She wouldn't feel safe letting him out, tonight.

Shutting the sliding garage door behind them, Ellie took a moment to calm her racing heart. Resting her hands against her equine friend's side, she let his warmth seep into her and soothe her frazzled nerves.

"Okay…"

Heading down into the basement, she paused at the ashen complexion she saw on the prone man. She had been gone way longer than she'd meant to be.

"Joel?" she called apprehensively.

Misty breath wafted from his lips in response. Ellie sighed in relief and rushed to his side.

"I only managed to get a little bit of food," she reported mechanically. She didn't need to worry him with her ordeal.

Shifting through her backpack, she pulled out the small satchel and opened it. James and David had kept their word, after all. "But… I did get this."

Knowing she'd have to look at his wound for the first time in a while, Ellie pulled the blanket down and asked him to move his arm. He did, proving his consciousness, and Ellie carefully lifted the edge of his shirt.

"Oh…" she breathed when she saw the swollen bruised look that signified his infection. It was getting worse, now, pushing dangerously against the stitches.

She reached for the penicillin, and loaded the syringe – testing if it would go through just as she'd seen the doctors do when she'd gotten her vaccinations at school. "Here we go."

Joel let out an agonized grunt when she pushed the needle into the swollen flesh.

"Sorry," she apologized, but did not pull the syringe away as it unloaded into his body.

"All done," she finally announced, after she was sure she'd squeezed every last drop out of the plastic. "That's it."

Joel was shivering violently again as she pulled the shirt and blanket back into place. She checked his fever, and found him warm, but not burning.

"You're gonna make it," she assured him, settling down beside him as he turned his face towards her voice and shuddered.

Resting her arm around him settled him, as usual. Ellie clenched her fist in desperate hope and squeezed her eyes shut. They both fell into a fitful sleep.

…

Ellie awoke several hours later to muffled sounds coming from outside. For once, she hoped it was more infected, as she moved on top of the old washing machine to peer carefully out the window.

Three men were outside, talking amongst themselves and gesturing to all the houses.

"Oh, fuck…" she whispered, pulling away from the window. "They tracked me."

Moving back to Joel's side, Ellie knew she couldn't stay here and protect him. There were probably more, and Joel couldn't defend himself right now if she failed.

Shaking her head, she faced the man. "I'm gonna draw them away from here."

She touched his shoulder affectionately. "I'll come back for you."

'_Don't worry, Joel…'_

Shouldering her backpack, Ellie left him there. Heading to the garage, she opened the door and beckoned Callus outside. She almost dropped the door in her haste, but remembered herself at the last minute, and closed it as silently as possible. "Easy…"

Hefting herself aboard Callus, she whispered the command for him to go, and kept him at a steady but quiet pace as they crept past the men.

Callus wanted to stop and look at them, but she sat forward in the saddle to urge him on. "C'mon…"

"Are we even sure she's here?" one of the men asked.

"Man, there were horse tracks down the fucking street. She's here," another responded.

Ellie watched them carefully as the horse carried them past. Suddenly, hands grabbed at her, and she reflexively squirmed, wanting to kick if not for being on horseback.

"Hey, I got her!" the fourth man yelled, tugging her roughly.

Reacting quickly, Ellie reached into her pocket and unsheathed her switchblade.

"Get your ass over-" The rest of his reply turned into a wet gurgle as she plunged the knife into his throat.

"What're you waiting for? Shoot her!"

She whipped around to see one man hesitating with a gun poised in her direction.

"But, David said-"

"Fuck David! Shoot her, now!"

Ellie flailed Callus's reigns and kicked her heels against him. "Go!"

The bullet whizzed past her head as the horse exploded into movement.

"Let's go, boy!" she coaxed, leaning forward as they broke into a full run.

The men yelled something and more suddenly swarmed out of the shadows. Leaping over a road block, Ellie saw the man waiting just beyond it seconds before Callus barreled past him.

Leaping at them, the man managed to grab onto to saddle. The horse whinnied and arched dangerously to the side.

"Don't let her through!" the others encouraged.

Ellie let go of the reins to kick and push against the man with foot and hand. He fell, and Callus made another noise, almost tripping as his hind legs trampled him with a sickening crunch.

_'These guys really want me dead,'_ she thought frantically, as she grappled for the reins again in order to steer Callus away from their cluster of houses.

Narrowly missing several others as they bellowed orders to one another, Ellie felt shots nick her and Callus's hair as she swerved him left and right to try avoiding the bullets. "Come get me you motherfuckers!"

"Shoot the horse! Shoot the fucking horse!"

She didn't see the rifleman atop the school bus until it was too late. A deafening peal cracked through the air, before she heard the scream of an animal and Callus was lurching to the side.

Over and over they rolled, down the rocks and to the bottom of the valley.

Ellie landed with a painful thud, and felt Callus land only a few feet away. She looked up, expecting to see the horse limping to his feet, but her friend did not move.

"Oh man…" she gasped, staring at the fallen animal, blood pooling around his head. "No…"

She approached him and saw the bullet wound through his skull. "Those fuckers!"

Shaking, she knew on some detached level she was going into shock, but she pushed it down as voices echoed down from up the hill.

"She fell down the hill somewhere. I don't see her, though."

Knowing she couldn't stay by the body to mourn her friend, Ellie moved forward, towards the village she knew was down here.

"She's running for the cabins!" was all she heard before shots were whizzing by her again. Her body desperately wanted to quit on her, but she forced it on as she leapt into window without glass.

Keeping low, Ellie felt her erratic breath more than she heard it. There was a small hole that an adult wouldn't be able to fit through on the opposite side. She headed for that.

"Are we really killing her?" The voice made her pause on the porch, sheltered by solid railing. "David said he wants her alive."

"He doesn't get to make that call," another voice answered. "James told me it's the girl from the University. How many of our guys were killed there?"

"Oh shit… I didn't know that was her. Screw David, then. I ain't taking a chance with this."

"I just want to finish up and go home. I'm freezing my ass off."

The voices were rapidly nearing, and she could hear even more footsteps closing in around her location. Creeping down the stairs, hugging the wall for security, she saw a straight shot between her and the next structure. She took it.

The men were obviously either not used to cornering a little girl, or very scared of her, because they stayed in groups that made them easier to avoid. Keeping ears strained, she moved from structure to structure, and avoided where she could hear the heavy footsteps.

Two men blocked her path further ahead, and Ellie cursed to herself. Pulling out her bow, she stayed down and listened, hoping no one would sneak up on her. As soon as she heard one of the two guardsmen walk a bit up the pathway, she rose to take aim.

If the closest man saw her, he didn't react in time, before the arrow pierced his chest.

'_Yeah!'_ she allowed herself to cheer silently as he went down.

The other one was still blissfully unaware of his friend's death, and Ellie had a moment of indecision about whether to try and sneak past him or risk another shot with men spanning the area.

'_If he sees his buddy, he'll just yell,'_ she decided, and moved into position.

With another pull, release and hiss, the guard crumpled to the floor.

The scouts were searching the buildings, now, which meant she didn't have a lot of time. Deciding to risk it, Ellie leapt over the obstacle she was hiding behind and sprinted up the stairs, ignoring the two bodies.

A collapsed bridge was the only way out that she could reach, and a sign pointed towards it.

"Nature track," she read, "Okay, that should get me out of here."

Pressing her back against the bridge's railing, she began to shimmy her way across the only remaining thin board.

"You got this, Ellie…" she whispered to herself, taking silent encouragement from the fact that she'd made it this far. "Okay, don't fall in the water… Don't fall in."

The men were little dots down below, but none of them seemed to think she'd made it up there, for they didn't look up. She kept her steps light and quiet until she'd finished crossing. "Oh shit…"

'_I fucking made it.'_

Ellie licked her dry lips, and disappeared from their sight around the corner and off a small ledge. "Okay…"

The only way forward was a drainage pipe just big enough for her to go through if she crouched. It led to a locked gate and one other pipe.

"Eugh…" she groaned as she entered the filthy hole. However, her way was blocked by a crate, its corner poking through a hole in the pipe. "This damn thing is blocking me…"

Moving back out, Ellie followed the line until she encountered the crate, filled to the brim with foul-smelling garbage.

'_Shit, can I even move this?'_

She grabbed the handle and pulled, straining the weight in her legs until she felt herself moving backwards. The crate groaned and bumped out of place before moving. "Jesus…" she cursed.

Heading back to the tunnel, she moved inside, and through.

'_I got this…'_

The area she came up in lead to a large estate.

"That's the way back," she mumbled, seeing a trail that rounded back to the village. "Hang in there, Joel."

Dropping down, Ellie paused and huddled down against a stone perimeter wall when she heard voices again.

"Cover the grounds. Make sure she's not hiding somewhere over here!"

Just how many of these fuckers were there?

The voices seemed to be coming from near the mansion, so she hopped over the wall to move along the shoreline.

Straining her senses again, she kept her ears trained on the two men she could hear moving around the building.

She was rounding a corner when she heard it, far too late.

"Fuck!" one of the men shouted, and leapt for her.

His arm wrapped around her neck when she turned to run, clamping down like a vice. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to struggle, but she knew it was useless against a man twice her size. Instead she bit down, satisfied when she pierced the sleeve and tasted blood.

He loosened his grip and she struck backwards. He let go and she wasted no time turning around to plunge her knife into his belly.

"You hear that?!"

'_Shit!'_

Rapid footfalls were approaching, and she ran. The back of the house was a dead end.

'_Oh no…'_

That was when she felt it: a breeze coming from behind one of the two huge green trash containers.

Grabbing it, she braced her weight and pulled until the rusted wheels responded. A small window, now bare of glass, lie half-hidden below the snow. Ellie ducked inside it.

'_I don't wanna get trapped in here,'_ she thought, as she crept through the rooms.

A bullet whizzed past her head.

"She's on this side of the lodge!"

'_No!'_

With no other choice, Ellie took cover and pulled out the rifle. Waiting for a shot to graze the wood beside her head, she moved and fired in one fluid motion. The man fell, but she knew her cover had been blown.

She heard at least two men enter through the doors and quickly ducked beneath a table.

"I'm gonna fucking kill this brat," she heard one of them seethe to himself.

Feet appeared in front of her and she stifled her breath. Knowing she couldn't hide here and wait this out with Joel still in danger, Ellie unsheathed her switchblade and plunged it into one of the appendages. When the man cried out and buckled, she shot out of her hiding place to drive the weapon into his belly.

"The fuck?"

The other turned and Ellie ran at him. Jumping into the air to get more leverage, she brought the knife down into his chest – stabbing and stabbing until he lay motionless.

The familiar sickness squelched around in her gut, but she tamped it down. It was them or her, and with Joel in danger, she couldn't let it be her.

'_There's the door.'_

Making a sprint for it, Ellie slammed her shoulder against the glass covering. They'd blocked it, but she leaned all her weight into her shoulder and slowly felt it move. It opened and she lunged toward her exit.

Arms wrapped around her throat and pulled her back against a hard chest.

Whipping out her knife again, Ellie stabbed it backwards, but one of the hands grabbed at her arm. She struggled against it, but it was far stronger than her.

"Relax," David's voice hissed in her ear, "I'm keeping you alive, here."

The arm around her neck tightened, cutting off her air supply, and she saw colored dots flash in front of her eyes as her consciousness slowly faded.

"There you go…" he soothed, and Ellie knew no more.

…

_Thud… Schfft schfft schfft…_

_Thud… Schfft schfft schfft…_

Ellie's head was pounding as the rhythmic noise brought her slowly back into consciousness. Rolling onto her back, she held her aching forehead before slowly sitting up.

_Thud… Schfft schfft schfft…_

James stood a few feet away, and the breaks in her vision of him told the groggy girl that she was behind bars. The young man was carving something up, and she squinted, moving to grip the cage bars to better see what it was.

_Thud…_

A human hand came away, and he slid it onto a heap on the floor.

With a noise, Ellie backed away. She must have got his attention, because he stopped cutting and looked at her. She turned fearful eyes to him, breathing hard, but his own gaze was pitiless.

The boy tsked and shook his head before leaving the room. As soon as he was gone, Ellie moved back to the bars, pulling and shoving at the chain holding the door closed.

Pacing like the caged animal she was, Ellie pushed against the mesh to probe for weaknesses. Finding none, she went back to the chain with reckless abandon, panic setting in.

"How are you feeling?"

David was carrying a tray of food and his usual smile. She watched him carefully.

"Super," she bit out, sarcastically.

He nodded as if in understanding of her tone, before kneeling to push the tray under the door. "Here. You should eat."

Ellie backed away from the food and stared at him silently, hoping her anxiety wasn't showing on her face.

"I know you're hungry," David said. "You've been out for quite some time."

She only watched his face. "What is it?"

He glanced at the food, then back to her before responding, "It's deer."

She looked at the meat, before shifting her eyes towards the corpses on the table behind the man.

"With some human helping on the side?" She was proud of how level her voice sounded.

"No," he responded. "No, I promise. It's just the deer meat."

He wasn't denying her accusation, and she had no idea what human flesh looked or smelled like when cooked. But refusing to eat wasn't going to get her anything but a slow death, and she needed her strength right now.

"You're a fucking animal," she snapped vehemently, before bending down to ravenously dig into the food.

David seemed relieved now that she was eating, and bent down to her level, to patiently chide her. "Oh, that's awfully quick to judgment." A pause. "Considering you and your friend killed… how many men?"

She shook her head at him. She wasn't going to let him pull these kinds of mind games on her. "They didn't give us a choice."

"And you think we have a choice. Is that it?" He looked down at his hands as she continued eating, her answer obvious. "You kill to survive… And so do we."

So he thought they were the same. But why not just kill her?

"We have to take care of our own," he continued, "By any means necessary."

Finishing, Ellie leveled him with a glare. Had he honestly broken other people with this bullshit?

"So now what?" she asked. "You gonna chop me up into tiny pieces?"

David seemed to find the prospect amusing, and chuckled. "I'd rather not."

He smiled that sickening smile again. "Please tell me your name."

Realization sunk in, and she shoved the food back at him. Had he forced them to be the same by making her eat human to prove some disgusting point?

"You're so full of shit," she hissed, standing again.

He gave her that look she didn't like again, before it faded away and he paused to pick up the spilled dishes. "On the contrary," he said patiently. "I've been, uh… quite honest with you."

His voice turned stern as he set them aside and stood before continuing, "Now I think it's your turn."

Gesturing back to the room behind him, he said, "It's the only way I'm gonna be able to convince the others."

Ellie didn't like where this was going, and she stared at him with hardness in her eyes. "Convince them of what?"

"That you can come around."

David approached her slowly, and she forced herself to stay in place. "You have heart. You're loyal."

His hand covered hers, and she twitched, but would not show him weakness. "And you're special."

Suddenly it all made a sick kind of sense why he'd decided to keep her around.

"Oh…" she said, and tried to hide the revulsion she was feeling.

Slowly, she brought her other hand up to reciprocate his gesture. He smiled at her.

Without giving him any warning, she mustered all her strength into her arms and twisted – satisfied when she heard the crunch and his pained cry.

Keeping one hand on his finger to keep it at the painful angle, Ellie quickly ducked down with her other hand to grapple for the keys on his belt.

Wrenching his finger from her grip, the man defied the pain to grab her flailing arm and tug once; twice; and the third time having her face slammed into the bars made her succumb to the force. Falling hard to the floor, they broke away from each other.

"Ah…" she gasped, blood dripping from her cracked nose, "Fuck…"

"You stupid little girl!"

Ellie cradled her nose and head, searching for more wounds. Her nose was killing her, and she could feel the break.

"You are making it very difficult to keep you alive," David snarled. "What am I supposed to tell the others, now?"

She sniffed, wiping the blood from her face. "Ellie."

He paused, turning back towards her angrily. "What?

"Tell them that Ellie is the little girl… that broke your fucking finger!"

David was silent as he examined his finger with cool stoicism. "How did you put it? Hmm?"

He looked back at her, and the nasty look did not disappear this time. "Tiny pieces?"

His voice was cold as he turned his back to her and walked out. "See you in the morning, Ellie."

She watched him go, before holding her nose again. Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

'_Joel…'_

…

"Wake-y, wake-y," a voice called, and Ellie felt arms grabbing her, pulling her violently back into the waking world.

"Come on." James dragged her up and out of the cage, where David was waiting.

"Let go!" she screamed.

David reached for her face, to brush the hair out of it affectionately or to get a look at her fear she didn't know, but it scared her and she reacted. "Stop!"

She bit down and felt blood well from between her teeth. She didn't let go, and David lashed out, shoving a knee into her stomach. Both men pushed against her, sending her down onto her back across the cutting table. David reached for the butcher's knife.

"I warned you!" he snarled, raising the meat cleaver above his head.

Ellie panicked.

"I'm infected!" she screeched. "I'm infected!"

To be honest, she herself had no idea if her words were true. She'd swished Joel's mouth out with the strongest alcohol she could find as soon as it had dawned on her what she'd potentially done. Whether his lack of infection was because it was successfully killed, or she was just incapable of transmitting it, she still had no way of knowing.

Whether she could or not, her heart pounded with hope when she saw hesitation in David's eyes. It was quickly covered up, with the presence of the younger man, but Ellie saw the spark of horror that could not be completely snuffed out as the man sneered.

"Really?" he stated in disbelief.

She took that spark of fear, and ran with it. "And so are you."

Hesitation again, even as he shook his head with a smile that clearly showed he didn't believe her.

"Right there," she said, jerking her arm against his grip. "Roll up my sleeve."

The man did nothing.

"Look at it!" she demanded hotly.

With a glance at his companion, David flipped the knife in his hands. "I'll play along."

The weapon came down, and Ellie closed her eyes against the inevitable impact. But it only wedged in the table beside her head.

She stared at the man as he eased the sleeve up over her arm, and she fought back the shudders of revulsion as he took his time in doing so.

He paused when her blistered wound came into view, glancing at his friend again. Ellie couldn't help but relish in the returned fear she could see in his gaze.

"What'd you say?" she breathed out. "Everything happens for a reason, right?"

'_If I die here, I'm taking you down with me, you sick fuck…'_

James was starting to panic. "What the hell is that?"

"She would've turned by now," David quickly reassured. "It can't be real!"

The younger man didn't seem to believe it any more than he did. "It looks pretty fuckin' real to me!"

David hesitated and brought up his arm to inspect the bite. James loosened his grip on her to lean in and see for himself. It was the split-second Ellie had been waiting for, and she wasted no time.

In an explosion of movement, she gripped the handle of the meat cleaver and slammed it into James's throat. The boy collapsed with a gurgle at the same time Ellie rolled off the table, ducking down just as David reached for his gun and fired. The bullet whizzed past her ear, and she had to shake her head to clear the sound as she landed.

Moving like lightning, she shoved her way past a hanging carcass that looked achingly familiar. Another bullet flew by, missing her thanks to the body that slowed it, and she rounded the corner to press her back against the wall. David was hesitating again, and she thanked her luck for that.

Her backpack wasn't in the room, but Ellie spotted her mother's switchblade embedded in a nearby table. She grabbed it, and took a deep breath. "Okay…"

Running for the window, she vaulted out of it, ignoring the next shot David fired as she was consumed by the blizzard.

'_Oh man… What the fuck is wrong with these people?'_

Beneath the howling of the white wind, Ellie heard David shouting to her. "Where ya goin', Ellie? This is my town!"

'_Yeah, go fuck yourself,'_ she hissed in her head, rubbing her arm where he'd touched her as though it burned.

The all-consuming whiteness engulfed her as she stumbled around, hugging the walls when possible. Finally, a door. Opening it, Ellie shivered and ducked down into the darkness.

'_I need a gun.'_

A laundry trough blocked her way, and she wheeled it towards the door, hoping to buy some time if someone came after her. Crouching down past the boards that covered the door-less frame, she kept low behind the stacks of animal cages as she entered a pet store.

"We heard gunshots!"

Ellie stopped. She could see several people gathering around David, out the windows.

"Infected!" David yelled above the storm.

"What?"

"The girl. She's infected and she got out."

The man hesitated as if deciding whether or not to believe his leader. "This is bad, David…"

"All right," the older man answered, "I need you to round up everyone who isn't armed and get 'em to clear outta here. We're gonna find that girl, and we're gonna kill her."

"Oh my god," a woman gasped. "I'll take the kids to the shelter!"

'_Oh fuck…'_ Ellie felt sick.

The group dispersed and she ducked into another building, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.

"I'm tired of this shit," a voice sneered. "He's crossed the line this time."

"I've been saying this for months," another answered. "We've indulged him enough. This girl killed our men and now she's infected."

"Let's clean this mess up… Then we can have a town meeting. Put his leadership up to a vote."

Ellie kept behind anything she could as she heard the men entering, but they were spreading out too quickly for her to move safely. Looking around for anything she could use to distract them, Ellie picked up an empty bottle, rusted with age.

Tossing it over her head as hard as she could, she closed her eyes when it crashed loudly several feet away.

"What the hell was that?" one of them breathed, much too close to her location.

As soon as she heard them move off to investigate it, Ellie crept forward on all fours and out the window, back into the storm.

A man rounded the corner just as she did.

"Shit!" he cursed, and Ellie didn't give him a chance to yell for help. Her knife slashed at his arm and he dropped the gun he was holding. Rolling forward, her switchblade plunged into his belly.

Picking up the revolver quickly, Ellie stared at the dying man with wide eyes for a few seconds before following the wall back out into the open. She could only hope their vision was as impaired as hers was.

Barbed wire walls blocked off most of the area, and she cursed.

'_This place is a damn maze…'_

Coming to a flight of stairs, Ellie suppressed a noise and ducked behind a prone mail truck when she saw two men patrolling the top area.

'_They're everywhere…'_

There. A hole crumbled in the wall just big enough for her to fit through. Waiting for the nearest man to turn away, she moved forward to creep through it, coming out on the other side. The second man was there, and Ellie licked her lips before rushing him.

Her knife came down before he could make a sound, striking him in the shoulder; the neck; anywhere she could reach, until he lie motionless on the ground.

She followed the buildings as best she could in the whiteness, until finally finding another hole where voices were echoing.

"What if she bites someone?"

"Relax, she's not biting anybody."

"I'm just saying we could have a real situation here."

"We already have a situation. Now stay focused. Let's find her."

'_Shit…'_

Two men were in the arcade, but there was no other way to go. Hunkering down, Ellie hid behind one of the games. She loaded the revolver quietly. However, not wanting to risk people hearing a scuffle, she did not rise to fight her way out.

Staying low, she maneuvered her way around behind the attractions, listening intently for the men's footsteps. Feeling the cold breeze again, Ellie realized she had slipped her way to the door. She headed out.

The streets were empty.

'_Where are they?'_

A school bus loomed in front of her. Past it she saw a restaurant, and beyond that, a gate blocked her path. Only one way forward.

Garbage bins were stationed just below the windows into the building. So they could easily dispose of the food, she supposed. Ellie climbed one, and stretched up. Her fingers barely reached the window, but she had enough leverage to heave herself up and in.

Moving forward cautiously, Ellie startled when she heard a dull crack. Looking down, she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw she had merely stepped on some shards of dinner plates.

No men rushed to her location. No one was guarding this place. Allowing herself to relax only slightly, Ellie peeked around the tables.

'_There's the exit.'_

She sped towards the door and opened it.

David's nastily smiling face was suddenly in front of hers. Ellie moved the revolver up to shoot, but he grabbed her arms and shoved her back inside.

"You're easy to track," he sneered in her face, pinning her against a table and knocking a lantern over. The pungent smell of spilling oil reached her nostrils.

Grappling with her for the weapon, the stronger man won out and pushed her to the ground to loom over her with gun pointed.

Ellie's heartbeat hammered in her chest.

"How did you do it?"

Fire licked at the spilled oil to her right, and David paused to look at the quickly blazing flames.

Ellie seized her chance and ducked behind a booth and out of sight.

"That's all right," David called, and she heard the click of the only exit being locked. "There's nowhere to go! You want out – you're gonna have to come get these keys."

Ellie did not stay stationary, moving down the row of table booths to duck out of sight again just as David peered around them to where she'd just been sitting.

"I know you're not infected," he announced. "No one that's infected fights this hard to stay alive."

'_I gotta get those keys…'_ she thought breathlessly.

"So what it is, Ellie?" he continued. "I gotta admit. You had me back there. For a second, you shook my faith."

She moved around the area, keeping silent under the crackling of the flames that were rapidly spreading.

"But only for a second," David finished nastily.

Listening, she heard his footsteps two rows over, as he stopped and tried again to provoke her out. "Oh hey, Ellie? I'm sorry about your horse. I truly am."

Her rage licked against her insides like the fire engulfing the building.

"I hope you take comfort in knowing we won't waste any part of him."

'_You fuck,'_ her mind rebelled against the very idea, but she kept her temper in check.

Footsteps – closer this time. She could feel the heel of his boot come down on the other side of her and moved around to where she could now pinpoint his back was facing.

Leaping up, she clamped her arms around his neck and brought her knife down all at once. The man screeched angrily and shook her off like she was nothing. He aimed the gun and fired, but she was already moving behind another booth.

"That was good, kid," he panted, and she heard what sounded like the slide of a large knife being pulled out of its sheathe.

"It's gonna be all right…" His honeyed voice made her stomach lurch.

"You know, you keep surprising me," he stated. "It's a shame you wouldn't come around… But it's too late, now."

He rushed around the corner and her heart pounded.

"_There_ you are," he cat-called, licking his lips and paying no heed to the beams that were beginning to collapse under the heat of the fire. Ellie panicked and leapt over the tables.

David screeched to a halt and moved to go around the long way, clearly relishing the chase above the catch.

Her breath came in rapid gasps and she coughed as they caused her to inhale the acrid smoke. Looking around desperately, Ellie spotted more plates on the floor and stomped on them loudly to alert the man.

He stopped again and breathed out a taunt before turning back the way he'd come – obviously believing her to have gone around the other side already – and giving her time to move the opposite way again.

When David paused to examine the area, she was behind him again. He mumbled a curse as she cautiously approached his flank. "You know, I love how you think you're better than this. Better than us. But you're not."

'_You sick piece of shit…'_

Her arm shot forward and dug the knife into his side. He cried out in agony, but still did not go down like his other men had.

"Run little rabbit, run…" he wheezed in glee, swinging his machete blindly in her direction as she backed off into the shadows again.

Either his sight was blurring with the pain or he'd lost sight of her again, as he stooped over, blood trickling down his side as the multiple wounds seemed to be taking their toll, after all.

It was the moment she needed.

Leaping onto his back again, she brought her knife down under his collarbone and twisted it as deep as she could.

David was obviously running on adrenalin now, and uttered little noise as he collapsed backwards into a table, pushing Ellie into it with him. She moved to stab again, but he reached behind himself to grab her arm, leaning forward and using the momentum to throw her over his shoulder.

Ellie's head cracked against the hardwood floor, and her vision swam before fading to darkness.

…

Warm. That's all she felt. But wasn't it cold outside? It felt like she was flying, but she couldn't be sure if it was just the room spinning.

Where was she? Where was Joel? He should be next to her, right? Maybe that's why she was so warm.

A voice dully echoed throughout her consciousness, sickly sweet in the way it addressed her. A voice she knew should be familiar, but her mind didn't want to remember.

"_You give up now and I promise to be quick. Promise."_

Pain erupted in her throat as a weapon came down upon it, and she was no longer flying, but falling.

Ellie clambered back into consciousness, her adrenalin jolting her back to the world of the living from the aftershocks of the dream. Coughing, she touched her shoulder. It was an ignited spark that had caused the electrocution of pain.

Suddenly she remembered where she was, and why she couldn't breathe. Smoke billowed around them and the flames crackled dangerously close.

David lie prone beside her, but his sounds told her he, too, was coming into wakefulness. Ellie struggled sluggishly to her hands and knees.

Something flashed, reflecting the firelight and catching her attention. It was David's machete; lying just out of reach under the table.

Her movements were slow and painful. Her stomach hurt from anxious nausea and the fights. Her lungs burned with the acrid black clouds.

Halfway there.

Heavy footfalls and then she was letting out a choked cry as more pain exploded in her stomach. David cackled above her as she slumped to the floor from his kick, her sweaty forehead pressing into the carpet and her breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

"I knew you had heart," he said breathlessly."Y'know it's okay to give up."

Her swimming vision focused on her goal and she forced her shivering limbs to respond as she moved back to her elbows.

"Ain't no shame in it." David finished.

She didn't hear him, as she pushed her exhausted body forward. He backed up to let her, but she didn't let herself dwell on why.

David chuckled breathlessly again. "I guess not. Just not your style, is it?"

Almost there. Almost there…

More pain in her midsection as his foot made contact again. She coughed miserably and almost emptied her stomach.

Ellie felt his body over hers, and the stars cleared from her vision as panic set in. She had never felt smaller than she did when all his weight was pressing into her from behind. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to buck and squirm and _fight_, but she was just so tired… He was just so strong.

He gripped her hair and yanked, pulling her ear close to his lips and she gulped down the shudders of revulsion.

"You can try beggin'," he rasped.

Ellie knew she was going to die here. But still, she summoned her courage.

"Fuck you," she spat.

Suddenly his crazed face loomed above her as he spun her around by the shoulder to face him. Fingers came around her neck, lacing up one by one like ten little nooses. Spittle flew from his enraged lips as he snarled in her face, "You think you know me? Huh?"

His pelvis pressed into hers and she suppressed a noise, focusing all her strength into getting away from that awful feeling as she writhed backwards, flailing out her hands to search for her goal as the hands tightened up until she was fighting back the spots blurring into her vision.

"Well let me tell you something," he continued harshly, "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Through her haze, her fingers found something – a handle. They closed around it.

Heart booming in wild panic, she brought the weapon up without a second's hesitation. The blade made contact with David's left arm and his scream rattled her ear drums as he rolled off her. Rolling with him, she leapt atop him like a thing possessed and raised the machete.

David's eyes went wide with terror, and their aged depths pleaded with her to let him live; however Ellie was too far removed from mercy to pay it any heed.

The fourteen-year-old girl was unstoppable; unquenchable in her bloodlust. The machete rose and fell like a puppet on a string, each downward slice punctuated by her own crazed grunts.

Over and over she hacked, not stopping even as his anguished cries died into silence under the relentless assault.

The cleaver got caught against bone or gristle, but she only yanked it out angrily, ignoring when it splashed her hands, body and face with red saline mist. Distantly she heard a voice calling her name and the rapid footfalls of a single man rushing up to her from behind.

"Ellie!" she heard again. Then arms were around her, pulling her away from her kill and against a hard chest. "Stop! Stop!"

She struggled violently against the grip, "No!" she screamed savagely, "Don't fucking touch me! No!"

"Shh. Shh," it spoke again, but she was not soothed, squirming around to try and clamber over the man that embraced her. "It's okay – it's me, it's me!"

The voice sounded so familiar, and calloused hands came up to steady her head tenderly.

"It's me – look. Look. It's me."

Gulping down feral breaths, Ellie briefly saw the brown eyes, shining with concern before she ducked her head down – unable to show him the tears that were forming in her own.

"He tried to-"

Joel's hand moved from her cheek to cup the back of her head. His other arm wound around her back as he pulled her forward. She collapsed into his arms, exhausted scared and hurt.

"Oh, baby girl…" he whispered. "It's okay… It's okay…"

The tears came. All the panic and anger and bloodlust falling from her eyes in hot trails that slid down her cheeks and stung the cuts and bruises she'd sustained.

"Joel…" her voice sounded so tiny; so lost to her own ears. It was cracked with all the strain of the past weeks – she'd been so alone, kept going only by the need to keep him alive. She cried for what she had lost. She cried for what she had become.

"It's okay now," he soothed again, holding her so tight she hoped he'd never be able to let go.

The moment felt like it lasted an eternity, and yet not nearly long enough. She felt his hands on her cheeks again and vaguely registered that he was talking to her. Her ears were ringing so loudly. Finally looking up at him, she could only nod at what she read on his lips.

Joel helped her up and ushered her out of the burning building. The blizzard stung her wet green eyes and froze the tears to her face. She clung to the man when exhaustion took hold of her again.

"Callus…" she whispered.

"What?"

"I want to bury Callus…"

Joel gave her a sad look and she almost thought he was going to deny her under the circumstances, before he spoke softly, "Okay, kiddo."

…

The wind rustled the girl's hair as she stacked stones onto her friend's grave. Joel stood silently, brushing careful fingers over where she knew his stitches to be, a pensive look on his face.

The blizzard had blown itself over that day, and Ellie had brought Joel to Callus's favorite grazing spot to bury the horse.

Touching the rocks affectionately, Ellie silently thanked the animal for all he'd sacrificed to stay with her.

'_Joel made it, boy. I'll be okay, now… So don't you dare worry about me.'_

She knew her relationship with the man had changed, but the looming prospect was not daunting. She felt safer – and while he could never fill the hole of what she'd lost of herself, she knew he would always be there at the end of the day. It was all she'd ever wanted.

A fluttering movement to her right caught her attention, and she looked to see a small butterfly riding the gentle breeze with a listless grace. She sniffed and looked at Joel, who smiled softly for her.

Breathing a deep breath as she said her last goodbyes to Callus, Ellie stood and faced the man.

'_Everything's all right, now,'_ she thought, and it eased the damage and pain just a little to look at things that way. _'We'll make it to the Fireflies, and everything will be okay.'_

'When you're lost in the darkness, look for the light.' That's what they said, right?

The empty space in her heart suddenly felt warm. She returned Joel's smile.

…

A/N: Obviously I couldn't keep everything like a video game, so I adapted parts a bit – such as the number of enemies, amount of dialogue, use of weaponry, and Ellie not failing at stealth as much as I do. I hope they aren't so different that they took away from your experience, as that was not my intention. Happy birthday, Possk! I hope it's a good enough present!


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